Newsletter: Summer 2025

Richland Soil and Water Conservation District News – July 2025

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Catch Us at the Richland County Fair: Stormwater, Games and More!

Join us August 3-9 at the Richland County Fair!

While at the Richland County Fair, join us behind the Nature Park stage to learn about stormwater management. We’ll be sharing simple steps you can take to prevent stormwater pollution and protect our waterways. Plus, play our stormwater cornhole game to see how polluted stormwater can change clear water into water you don’t want to swim in, bathe with or drink. The Nature Park exhibit space is open from 11:00am to 7:00pm daily, and we hope you stop by to visit with us and other exhibitors like Richland County Solid Waste Management Authority, Richland County Master Gardeners, Richland County Park District, Mansfield Litter Prevention and the Richland Area Beekeepers. 

Stormwater Cornhole at Richland SWCD’s 2025 Soil Open House
Richland County Fairgrounds Nature Park

Hot Weather, Heavy Rains and Ponds

Hot weather and heavy rains can stress ponds and create drainage issues. Learn simple ways to keep your water healthy and your yard dry.

With extremely hot weather and heavy rapid rains ponds can get stressed due to the potential for the water column to flip and/or an influx of nutrients from nearby properties. As a result, you might see rapid water level increases and algae or aquatic plants growing. These things may cause an oxygen depletion in the water column and could cause a fish kill.

So, the question then becomes how do we fix some of these things? Algae blooms are driven by high nutrient loads within ponds which come from leaves, grass clippings, fertilizers and other material deposited into your pond. While a little bit of this material, commonly known as muck, is normal and can be broken down within the aquatic ecosystem, too much of it can be harmful. How do you tell if you have too much muck in your pond? Simply by walking around the inside edge of your pond! Pay attention to how much you sink into the inky black material and how it envelopes your feet and legs. The deeper you sink, the more of this highly nutritious, nutrient laden muck your pond has. The best way to help your pond digest muck is by adding beneficial bacteria, which are live active bacteria that help break down the muck and restore the volume back in your pond. Often the more muck that is in the pond, the more treatments you will need which are generally completed in the spring and fall of the year. Pond aeration can also help by increasing oxygen levels and boosting bacterial activity.

For sparse rooting and floating aquatic vegetation adding species of fish like grass carp, tilapia (which will not over-winter in Ohio) or channel catfish that eat these plants will also restore volume to your pond. There are occasions where you may want to consider dredging your pond and we recommend that you contact a Richland SWCD technician who can help make recommendations. By increasing the volume and supplementing oxygen in the pond you will help make your investment not only look better but be more hospitable for the fish and other aquatic friends within. Some additional things you can do to help your pond is by leaving the grass taller around it to help filter out sediments and nutrients that could come in from overland flow. You can also utilize native switch grass plantings, often times marketed as ornamental grasses, in areas of high flow. In which they will help slow down water, increase water infiltration, and help reduce sediments and nutrients from overland flow.

Wet Spots and Your Property

Do any of these look familiar to you?

When it comes to wet spots in yards and fields there are options for landowners to improve drainage. Some options may be more appealing due to financial cost, topographic feasibility or personal capabilities. In no particular order things that homeowners can choose from are:

  • Installing a tile to remove surface water if you have an area on your property that can allow it to drain without causing you additional issues.
  • Installing a French drain to help with potentially excessive rainfall inundation.  
  • Adding soil amendments like gypsum, perlite and organic matter
  • Reshaping the low spot so that it has positive drainage.

These options can also help with areas that retain rainwater for long periods of time, we may recommend obtaining a soil test before selecting one of these potential solutions so that you get more bang for your buck. The Richland Soil and Water Conservation office can offer assistance over the phone but usually a site visit is recommended so that we can visually observe the entirety of your concern. Services like this are provided to the public for free.

H2Ohio Guidance for Cover Crops and Contract Renewal

Enrollment for CY26/27 is still open!

As the 2025 planting season is (hopefully) winding down, we’re also winding down on our 2025 practices. This will ultimately bring our first multi-year H2Ohio contracts to an end. If a producer is interested in continuing with the program in 2026/2027, there is some important information regarding cover crops after 2025 harvest. There are a couple of options/scenarios to consider:

  1. If planning cover crops this fall for your current H2Ohio contract but you do NOT want to re-enroll for Crop Years 26/27 (CY26/27): You don’t need to do anything other than let Jordan know you won’t be participating in H2Ohio for CY 26/27.
  2. If you’re planning cover crops this fall and you plan on enrolling in H2Ohio for Crop Years 26/27: Let Jordan know. We’ll need to do a termination agreement after all other 2025 practices have been completed. This will cancel the cover crop practice for CY25 on your existing H2Ohio contract and we’ll enroll those fields for a CY26 Cover Crop under the new H2Ohio contract for CY26/27.

The benefit of doing things this way: The existing contracted payment for an overwintering cover crop is $25/acre. That same ground going into a cover crop this fall on a CY26 contract will pay $40/ac for cover crops on the same date you’d expect to start seeing payments go out on an existing contract CY25 cover crop (i.e. after March 15, 2026). A difference of +$15/ac for the same ground paid at the same time you would have received a CY25 cover crop payment.

Crop Year 2026/2027 Manure Update

2026/2027 Manure Incorporation & Utilization

If you’re planning on enrolling in the manure incorporation & utilization practice for CY26/27, there have been some changes from the current contract’s practice standard for manure incorporation. The practice is now called manure incorporation & utilization and has added ways for no-till operations to receive a manure utilization payment. Please take a look at the practice standard on our website or contact Jordan for a copy if you’re considering manure incorporation/utilization in CY26/27.

Signups for H2Ohio Crop Years 2026/2027 (CY26/27) Continue Through Early August

The application for H2Ohio CY26/27 is available now on our website. You can also email Jordan for a copy or with any questions about the program.

Contracts for CY26/27 will start rolling out in late August 2025.

Please submit your application and begin gathering the following information for nutrient management planning and development on the MyFarms platform:

  1. Up-to-date soil test information (i.e. 4 years old or newer). For CY 2026 soil test information from 2022-on are acceptable, for CY 2027 soil tests from 2023-on are acceptable.
  2. Planned crop types for CY26/27.
  3. Field maps for the eligible ground you’re interested in enrolling in H2Ohio (or field boundary files from your CCA or agronomist.)
  4. Prescriptions or fertility plan for CY26/27.

*The soil test data, crop rotations, field boundaries/maps and fertility plan aren’t required to be submitted with the application, however, this information will need to be submitted prior to the contracting period coming August 2025.

Also available on the website are the practice standards and work plans for CY26/27. The practice standards are the minimum requirements that producers need to meet in order to receive payment for completing the practices. Work plans were designed to help producers successfully implement the practices.

If you’re interested in enrolling in H2Ohio for Crop Years 2026/2027, please submit your application as soon as possible. There is an enrollment cap of 800,000 total acres in the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) program area with the 2026/2027 contracts.

As a reminder, Richland County is on the WLEB H2Ohio schedule meaning acres in the following counties will be eligible to enroll through our office for crop years 2026/27: Crawford, Erie, Huron, Marion, Ottawa, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, & Wyandot.

If you have any questions about the program or application, please do not hesitate to contact Jordan.

Hot Days, Cool Events: What’s Happening This Summer

Our Calendar of Events is packed with exciting opportunities to learn, connect and get involved. Click to see what’s in store!

Upcoming Events

View Calendar

Stormwater Season in Full Swing: Are You Covered?

Find out if your site is in compliance with the local stormwater regulations plus permit numbers from the second quarter.

Our 2nd quarter of the year brought in many stormwater permits. We issued 14 permits for commercial projects between April 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025. We also issued 72 residential permits during that same time period with 48 of those being some sort of exemption. Please remember, if you are moving soil in the unincorporated areas of Richland County you need to consult with us about a stormwater permit to ensure you are following the Stormwater Management and Sediment Control Regulations of Richland County.

And now for a Stormwater Minute: Did you know that Agricultural projects are NOT exempt from the county’s Stormwater and Sediment Control Regulations? While agricultural construction is typically exempt from building and zoning regulations (still check in with each of these departments if you have an ag project), it is still subject to stormwater permitting requirements. We require site plans and the permit application to be submitted to our office. We inspect projects that go over the 2,000 square foot threshold outline in the County’s regulations. Stormwater Permits for Agricultural projects are fee exempt though and never cost the farmer anything.

Zoe on a stormwater inspection for an agricultural project

Save the Date: Annual Celebration is September 11

Celebrate 77 years of conservation with us and help shape the future by voting in our board supervisor election!

Save September 11 to attend this year’s Annual Celebration. The Celebration will return to the Area Agency on Aging in Hawkins Corner, 2131 Park Avenue West, Ontario.

A buffet lunch will be served at 11:30am followed by a program at noon to recognize the Cooperator of the Year and Volunteer of the Year honorees and share this year’s impact, accomplishments and updates. The cost is $25 per person and reservations are required by September 4. Reservations may be made online at https://richlandswcd.net/event/annual-celebration-4/.

From 11:30am to 12:30pm, eligible voters may cast their vote for one open Board Supervisor position. Eligible voters shall be at least eighteen years of age at the time of the official election and own or occupy land with the boundaries of Richland County. Absentee voting is also available at the Richland SWCD office beginning August 13 and closes September 10 at 4pm. Visit https://richlandswcd.net/ for election information.

Richland SWCD Staff with Commissioner Vero and Commissioner Mears at the 2024 annual celebration

From Volunteer Roots to Intern Boots: Welcome Daniel!

Join us in giving Daniel a warm welcome. He’s the grandson of one of our volunteers and our summer marketing intern!

We’re excited to welcome Daniel Karger, our new marketing intern, to the team! Daniel is a student at Ashland University where he is majoring in Marketing. He enjoys playing soccer, guitar and photography. He’ll be assisting us with graphic design, social media, promoting our programs to the community and more. He is the grandson of Donald and Roberta Karger. Donald is a Precipitation Monitor Volunteer for the District. We’re thrilled to have Daniel on board and can’t wait to see the creative ideas he brings to the table! 

MS4 Updates: Suited Up and Making Progress

Suiting up for screenings and keeping soil in place! Check out this quarter’s MS4 updates from fieldwork progress to a breakdown of how erosion happens and what you can do about it.

In the second quarter Sam and I continued our work with the Health Department to inspect outfalls that previously had illicit discharges. We re-tested several to confirm elimination and are looking forward to continuing this partnership as we work through a few more outfalls in the coming months. We also attended the MS4 bootcamp at the 2025 Ohio Stormwater Conference where we got a helpful refresher on the six minimum control measures and what to expect during Ohio EPA audits. We’re better equipped literally too! Sam and I both have waders now and we’re excited to stay dry during our final six dry weather screenings this year.

From Splash to Gully: The Many Ways Soil Moves

Keeping dirt in its place is the MS4 theme for 2025 and this spring gave us plenty of reminders why that message matters. During stormwater inspections, Sam and I noticed a significant amount of erosion. So much so that we spent a good part of the spring fielding phone calls about seeding, stabilization and erosion control methods. Rainfall can cause soil to move in several different ways. Understanding the different types of erosion can help us take the proper steps to protect our landscapes. Below are the four types of erosion we commonly observe: Splash, sheet, rill and gully.

  • Splash: Soil displaced by the impact of a falling raindrop. According to National Geographic the impact of a falling raindrop can scatter soil particles as far as 2 feet.
  • Sheet: Displacement of soil in thin layers by the forces of rain and stream flow. Erosion caused by runoff.
  • Rill: Displacement of soil by water running through little streamlets or headcuts. 
  • Gully: Displacement of soil along drainage lines (large channels) by surface water runoff. Usually begin as rills.

All four types of erosion can quickly get out of hand if sites aren’t stabilized in a timely manner. The best way to prevent erosion is to seed and mulch bare soil as soon as possible. Early stabilization not only keeps you in compliance with the Stormwater and Sediment Control Regulations of Richland County but also protects our waterways. Thank you for doing your part to keep dirt in its place!